Recent data analysis spanning the past five years indicates a notable trend in adoption preferences in India, with more than half of the children adopted being girls. The data, gathered by the Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), suggests that on average, 59.77% of couples chose to adopt a girl child, while 40.23% opted for a boy.
Maharashtra emerged as the state with the highest number of adoptions, followed by Karnataka and West Bengal. Out of the 3,276 children adopted in the country during 2017-18, a significant 1,858 were girls, highlighting a substantial preference for adopting girl children.
CARA CEO Lieutenant Colonel Deepak Kumar credited the surge in girl child adoptions in Maharashtra to the presence of numerous adoption centers. Maharashtra boasts the highest number of adoption agencies in India, with 60 centers compared to an average of 20 in other larger states.
Even in states with lower male-female ratios, such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, couples demonstrated a preference for adopting girl children. Refuting speculations that more girls were adopted due to their higher availability, Kumar emphasized that parents are given the freedom to express their preference during the adoption process.
While applauding the rise in girl child adoptions, Kumar highlighted a reluctance among Indian adoptive parents to consider children with special needs or those above 4-5 years of age. He noted that this trend contrasts with foreign countries where people are more open to adopting children with special needs.
Additionally, the data revealed an increase in in-country adoptions, with 1,858 girls and 1,418 boys adopted within India. The number of inter-country adoptions also saw a rise, reaching 651 in 2017-18. The United States, Italy, France, and Spain were among the top countries for inter-country adoptions.
These findings come in the wake of the Economic Survey’s estimation of 21 million ‘unwanted girls’ in India, highlighting the societal challenge of ‘son meta preference’ where parents continue having children until a son is born.
The positive shift towards adopting girl children reflects changing attitudes and a growing acceptance of gender equality in adoption choices across the country.
